The List Guy

Here’s something about me few of my friends know: I’m a big list guy. My phone--where I keep all of my notes--is full of lists. Some are pragmatic, like the list of films I want to watch or shows that have been recommended to me. Some are organizational: like lists of tricks I know from a shuffled deck, or out of my stack. And others are just plain weird.

I think it all started when I read High Fidelity, a book about a few record-store nerds who would list their top five songs in all sorts of weird categories: Top Five Side One, Track Ones, or Top Five Songs to Play at a Funeral.

Here’s one of my weirder lists, called simply “Awesome Things.” I derive a lot of joy reading over this list and adding to it; it’s just my own collection of little, awesome moments. And reading over this list, or thinking about other moments to add to it, puts me in a great mood. In moments of stress, I’ll sometimes open up this note in my phone and read over it.

Now here’s my request of you. In the comments section, will you add an awesome thing or two or ten? I’d like to compile a MEGA-LIST that we can all enjoy.

1. Drum solo in “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins
2. The last ten minutes of Karate Kid
3. Feeling wind on your face from going fast
4. First warmth of sunshine in spring 5, A hot shower on a cold day
5. Knowing you were right along
6. Being there for an important moment in someone's life
7. Having your mind changed in the face of overwhelming evidence
8. When someone tells you you did a great job, when you did
9. When your planning ahead made all the difference
10. Going to bed late when you know you don't have to get up for anything the next day
11. An empty inbox
12. Trying something you haven't done in years and realizing, “I still got it.”
13. Making a swoosh with a basketball
14. Wild animals who act human
15. Wild animals who act like wild animals
16. The scene at the end of Matrix when Neo stops bullets
17. When you remember to notice the stars
18. When the forecaster is wrong, against the odds, and the weather is perfect
19. Crossing the last item off a list
20. Goosebumps
21. A cold pool when you're drenched in sweat
22. Diving without fear
23. The documentary series Planet Earth
24. Honoring someone else’s worthy achievement
25. Waking up after a good night’s sleep when you really needed it
26. From 1:08 to 1:16 in Hugo